We’ve had a great couple of days, as our story in Crain’s Detroit has gone a little gang-busters on Facebook and elsewhere.

One thing not completely clear in the story is that we only have about 1/2 of what we need to build our full park. The money we’ve raised so far is really only going to cover fencing 3/4 of an acre, and maybe a couple of extras. Maybe. So, if you can, please click on the Paypal link and help us out.

A lot of people have asked over the last couple of years what it’s taken to build the park, and what’s the process for doing it. All we can say is that there is no one way to build anything or do anything in Detroit. All paths are valid. All dogs are deserving. Our process is a little slower because we really are trying to build sustainably, using less new material, and repurposing what we can.

We’re hoping to be open this fall, but we need some good luck, good vibes and a few extra bucks to get there. Make sure you come back here for updates or visit us on our FB page. We have Dog Party on Aug. 17, at Tiger Stadium. Hope to see you.

Detroit Dog Park and The Brooklyn Street Local invite you, yes, YOU! to an evening of food, drink and music, as we celebrate the coming of summer, the coming-together of the city’s first official dog park, and the awesome people that have helped us make this park a reality.

Saturday, JUNE 1, 7-11 p.m., 1266 Michigan Ave., Detroit

The Brooklyn Street Local is a Corktown cafe that specializes in local, in-season, organic and creative cuisine. Your $20 ticket includes an array of treats inspired by the restaurant’s offerings, a complimentary drink, then cash bar, music by artist and DJ Jarrad Henderson, a gorgeous patio, and that favorite of all Detroit activities – soaking in the summer weather.

Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Check out all the event sponsors on FB!

Wine:
Underwritten by Motor City Wine, who will also be living in Corktown soon, a collection of reds and whites to make any palate a happy one!

Cordials:
Deveri has her lab coat on and she’s coming up with cool summer drinks for those wanting an alcohol-free option.Tickets will be available through our website, detroitdogpark.org, at BSL itself, and by messaging us at detroitdogpark@gmail.com. Tickets purchased online will be available at our version of will-call.

Spread the word! Bark it up! DDP and BSL – a great start to an amazing summer in the D!

To our KICKSTARTER DONORS -

By now, you should have received your reward for donating to our campaign. Again, we thank you so much for your support! We are excited for spring and to begin construction and we’ll keep you updated on when that will be.

However, there are still a few people who haven’t responded to our attempts to deliver their rewards. You should have received a questionnaire from Kickstarter when our campaign ended in December. It should have asked for your address and how you want your name to appear on our website.

If you could please look this weekend, and let us know at detroitdogpark@gmail.com by APRIL 1 (no foolin’) whether or not you got that questionnaire, we will happily resend and get going on the process of sending you that reward.

Holler if you have any questions! We appreciate your help and support!

Great news! The bulk of our Kickstarter rewards went out during the week, so sometime in the next few days, you’ll be getting your reward in the mail.

Everyone who opted to receive a reward got a survey via the email address they supplied Kickstarter when they pledged. Based on those survey responses, we sent you your reward. However, there are still a handful of people that didn’t respond, for whatever reason. We need your help to fill out that survey by APRIL 1. Check your junk mail or your archives if you don’t remember getting a survey. If you still can’t find it, email us at detroitdogpark@gmail.com and we will resend.

With the rewards going out, this is pretty much the “end” of our Kickstarter campaign. But, we will continue to post updates on that site, as well as here and on Facebook. We hope to have more news for you on the park itself by the end of the month, so stay tuned and thank you for supporting Detroit Dog Park.

Well, the end of the year was a busy time for us, as we finished up our Kickstarter campaign, competed for a cash grant from Detroit SOUP and spent time with our friends and families at the holidays.

The new year brings new challenges, and we’re looking forward to telling you more about them as we can.

For now, we have our pop up dog park at the old Tigers Stadium from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 16 and you’ll soon be seeing your Kickstarter rewards in the mail.

We’re also looking for help and ideas for fundraising. If you want to help, make sure you sign up for our mailing list and when the call goes out, you’ll be in! If you have any suggestions, email us at detroitdogpark@gmail.com.

This is a huge day for us. Some 27 days ago, we launched a fundraiser through Kickstarter, and then we crossed our fingers and waited. After three weeks of hard work, media outreach and social networking on steroids, at about 11 a.m. this morning, a donor put us over $15,000. We met our goal.

With the holidays upon us, Detroit Dog Park would like to thank everyone who supports us, whether by donated, sharing a status updates, coming to our pop-up dog park once a month, or by just stopping us in the street and saying, “good job.” We are anxious to be part of Detroit’s future, and today, we really feel we are one step closer.

So, if you are free on Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., come by old Tigers Stadium on Trumbull and Michigan Avenue for our monthly pop-up dog park. We’re ready to celebrate and we would love you to join us!

Detroit is full of parks – seriously. Hundreds. But the city doesn’t have the funds to maintain them all.

Enter Adopt-a-Park. It’s a city program that allows community groups and neighborhood organizations to adopt city parks, improve and maintain them, in exchange for being able to decide what happens there. Other groups in Detroit have used the program to clean up, restore and truly revitalize some of the city’s most beautiful green spaces.

Our park is Macomb Park, also known as Macomb Playlot. It’s an old playground near the iconic train station and Roosevelt Park. The land is roughly 0.7 acres and shaped like a trapezoid. One side faces 17th Street, and another faces the dead end part of Rose Street. Right now, it’s got grass that is being mowed periodically. What we’re hoping to do is fence off the back 3/4 of the lot for dogs to play, leaving the part that faces 17th Street open for residents, dogs on leash and visitors to sit and relax in the shadow of one of Michigan’s most historic buildings.

If you come to Detroit SOUP on Sunday (doors open at 6:30 p.m., 2900 E. Grand Blvd, Detroit), you’ll learn more about our plans. You’ll donate $5 for a light dinner and have a chance to vote for us to win a portion of that $5 that will let us spread our Kickstarter funds a little more widely around the park.

More pix to come, but here’s a glimpse of what will become Detroit Dog Park.

This has been an amazing week for us at Detroit Dog Park and we have you to thank. First, we got approval for our site! Then, media! Now, a chance to win hundreds of dollars to build. READ ON!

On Monday, we woke up with less than $5,000 in pledges for Kickstarter. We were a little nervous. We thought we had a good idea, and really felt we’d explained it well. But we’d hit a lull in donations. It was troubling.

Later that afternoon, we learned that our application had been accepted by the city of Detroit’s General Services Department to build the dog park at Macomb Playlot in the Corktown neighborhood of Detroit!!!, near the old train station. That’s right! We have a site now, and we cannot wait to start building on it! Pix to come.

But it’s been amazing. Today, we have more than $10,000 in donations from all over the US and a couple of international places. We have 10 days to go, and less than $5,000 to raise to meet our goal. And on Sunday, we will be among the four groups presenting the dog park to Detroit SOUP, a fundraising dinner in which participants listen to pitches and vote on the idea they think is best – best for Detroit, best for its people, and best for themselves.

If you can join us on Sunday at 6:30 (proposals start at 7:30) at 2900 E. Grand Blvd., that would be awesome. If you can donate (see the Kickstarter button to the right), that would be more awesome. If you could both, holy crap how we would love you! Thank you!

Take a look at some proposed designs for Detroit Dog Park. As we move forward, we’ll have community meetings for your input and feedback. In the meantime, let us know what you think and remember, this is a design in progress. Thanks!

Less than a week into our Kickstarter campaign, and we’re already at $2,700. This makes us so happy, thankful and proud of our community – and the Kickstarter community – for pitching in to help us build this park.

In exchange for your donation, we can offer you some pretty cool pieces of Detroit’s history. Check it out!

Ashtrays – In Detroit’s Madmen era, no business went without branded ashtrays. These are slightly larger than your palm, and can hold any number of cool things if you don’t smoke. A 1950′s/1960′s classic. We have two.

Ticket stubs – In Detroit’s heyday, as the car was fueling our growth, people still relied on trains to get to Point B when Point A was hundreds of miles away. These are stamped ticket stubs from the 1920′s to destinations around the MIdwest and Canada. We have tons.

Dog tags – As Motown met funk in the 1970′s, Detroiters who registered their dogs with the city got these nifty dog-house shaped licenses. Put ‘em on your pup, wear them as a necklace, turn them into a keychain. The possibilities are endless.